Political Science
"It is equally evident, that the members of each department should be as little dependent as possible on those of the others...Were the executive magistrate, or the judges, not independent of the legislature in this particular, their independence in every other would be merely nominal." Federalist No. 51 Which constitutional principle is described in the quotation?
Checks and Balances
Which statement best explains why the Articles of Confederation established a weak rather than a strong central government?
Colonial experiences under Great Britain had created a fear of unlimited government
* Representation * Slave trade * Taxation * Election of the president Which heading best completes the partial outline below?
Compromises at the Constitutional Convention
Which headline illustrates the use of judicial review?
"New York State's Reapportionment Plan Ruled Unconstitutional"
Which part of the Great Compromise benefited states with smaller populations?
Each state has two representatives in the Senate
In the 1930s, President Franklin Roosevelt responded to the Great Depression by working with Congress to enact the New Deal. This piece of legislation allowed the federal government to work with state and local governments to address the problems associated with the New Deal. This scenario reflects which constitutional principle?
Federalism
How is the principle of FEDERALISM reflected in the US Constitution?
The Constitution acknowledges state governments which must share power with the federal government
Which of the following IS a correct description of constitutional powers?
Implied - Powers that Congress has assumed in order to better do its job
Which of the following BEST describes the US Constitution?
It is the supreme law of the land
Which of the following was NOT a key influence on the delegates at the Constitutional Convention?
Napoleonic Code and French common law
Congress established a minimum wage for workers and regulations on radio broadcasts by regulating interstate commerce with which of the following clauses?
Necessary and Proper Clause
What statement BEST describes the impact of the supremacy clause?
Places federal law above individual state laws
In the 1850s, new states such as Kansas and Nebraska could vote or whether or not accept slavery in their state. The ability of people to vote on this issue reflects which constitutional principle?
Popular Sovereignty
Which idea was expressed by Baron de Montesquieu?
Separation of Powers
"...an equality [of votes in the Senate] will enable the minority to control... the majority." --James Wilson, Pennsylvannia delegate, Constitutional Convention of 1787 Which conclusion can be drawn from this statement?
Some delegates believed that equal representation in the Senate would give smaller states too much influence
Which of these is an example of popular sovereignty?
Some states decided to prohibit slavery by a vote of residents
"We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America." - Preamble, U.S. Constitution How does the Preamble to the United States Constitution suggest the political principle of the social compact?
The Constitution and government are established by the people
Speaker A: A leader is not ultimately responsible to the people but to God, from whom the leader derives the right to govern. Speaker B: Each citizen is entitled to a voice in government. Therefore, government should be run by those representatives elected directly by the citizens so that the will of the citizens is expressed. Speaker C: History has taught us that the concentration of political power leads to the abuse of that power. Therefore, power should be divided among national, state, and local governments. Speaker D: Life is a struggle. Those who seize and maintain political power represent the strongest and most competent of that society and earn the right to govern. The principle of federalism contained in the Constitution of the United States is most consistent with the idea of Speaker
Speaker C
After it was decided that representation in the House would be based on population, the debate turned to whether or not African Americans would be counted in a state's population. Delegates from states with large slave populations wanted the slaves to be counted toward their total population because that meant they would have more representation in the House. Delegates from states with few slaves argued that only free people should count toward population totals. What was the result of this debate?
The 3/5ths Compromise
A group of poor farmers in Massachusetts, led by Taylor Coutts and John Sullivan is angered by war debts, bad harvests and high taxes. When their debt-ridden farms are taken by the bank, they march on the state capital in protest. Massachusetts sends their militia to try to stop them and appeals to Congress for assistance. Which of the following reasons BEST explains the inability of the Articles of Confederation to deal with this scenario?
The Articles of Confederation had no power to tax and pay for an army to put down the rebellion
Which passage from the US Constitution reflects the principle of popular sovereignty?
"The House of Representatives shall be composed of members chosen every second year by the people of the several states"
Which quotation from the United States Constitution provides for a Federal System of government?
"The powers not delegated to the United States . . . are reserved to the states . . ."
Which example BEST represents a limit placed on the Federal Government?
A citizen's life, liberty or property cannot be taken away without due process of law
Which example BEST illustrates the principle of judicial review?
A government that suggests the Supreme Court determine the constitutionality of laws
Which idea guided the development of the Articles of Confederation?
A strong central government would threaten the rights of the people
Which of the following was NOT a key issue of the Constitutional Convention?
Appointing a new dynastic ruler
How did weaknesses impact the writing of the Constitution
The Founding Fathers created a government with three branches
Why would states like Delaware and Rhode Island be against the Virginia Plan?
The Virginia Plan based representation on the number of people in a state which would give smaller states fewer representatives and less say in the government
What does the cartoonist mean when he titles his work "Rough Sailing Ahead?"
The cartoonist uses the drawing to depict the weaknesses associated with the Articles of Confederation which will bring down the ship
Which statement is an example of the system of federalism?
The national government coins money, but states cannot
Which governmental problem occurred under the Articles of Confederation?
The states frequently did not cooperate with each other
Which statement best describes governmental power under the Articles of Confederation?
The states had much greater power than the central government
The delegates to the Constitutional Convention faced a challenge. They wanted to create a strong, central government, yet they also wanted to insure that no individual or small group in the government would become too powerful. Because of the colonies' experience under the British monarchy, the delegates wanted to avoid giving any one person or group absolute control in government. Under the Articles of Confederation, the government had lacked centralization, and the delegates didn't want to have that problem again. To solve these problems, the delegates to the Constitutional Convention created a government with three separate branches, each with its own distinct powers. This system would establish a strong central government, while insuring a balance of power. Why did the Constitutional Congress decide to create three branches of our government?
The three-branch system established a strong central government without giving too much power to any one group
How did the Framers of the Constitution approach the issue of slavery?
They chose to remain silent about slavery in the Constitution
Which reason BEST explains why Anti-Federalists argued for the US Bill of Rights?
They wanted protections against tyranny of state governments
Why did the Framers of the Constitution make amending the Constitution so difficult?
They wanted the Constitution to be able to change, but only if it was widely agreed upon
How would popular sovereignty be supported here in the United States?
a person exercising their right to vote in an election
The part of the Constitution which outlines the powers of the national government is referred to as
articles
The U.S. Government is considered a federal system because
both national and state governments exist within the nation
Congress proposes an amendment legalizing an income tax. The Supreme Court rules that the income tax is unconstitutional. These events illustrate the use of
checks and balances
What constitutional principle prevents FDR from changing the number of justices on the Supreme Court by himself?
checks and balances
The 3/5ths Compromise was included in the Constitution to resolve a conflict over the
counting of enslaved persons in relation to taxation and representation
One way in which the United States Constitution differed from the Articles of Confederation was that the Constitution
created a national government having three branches
Speaker A: We favor the Virginia Plan, in which representation is based on population. States with more people should have more representation. Speaker B: Slaves should be counted because they are an important part of our state populations, and Congress should not be able to stop us from importing slaves to work on our plantations. Speaker C: We delegates from the small states insist upon a legislature in which each state receives equal representation. Speaker D: Congress should tax imports so that foreign goods will not be cheaper than our manufactured products. The conflict between the statements of Speakers A and C was resolved by
creating a two-house legislature
The Great Compromise reached at the Constitutional Convention resulted in the
creation of a bicameral legislature
During the debates over the ratification of the United States Constitution, Federalists and Anti- Federalists disagreed most strongly over the
division of powers between the national and state governments
During the Constitutional Convention of 1787, the plans for Congress proposed by delegates from New Jersey and Virginia differed mainly over the issue of
equal state representation or proportionate state representation
The significance of the Supreme Court case Marbury v. Madison is that the decision
established the power of judicial review
Shays' Rebellion (1786) became a concern for many national leaders because it
exposed fundamental weaknesses in government under the Articles of Confederation
The main reason the Articles of Confederation were replaced as the basis of the United States government was that they
failed to give the central government enough power to govern effectively
The framers of the United States Constitution included the concepts of federalism, checks and balances, and separation of powers in the document because they
feared a government with unlimited power
One similarity between the Articles of Confederation and the United States Constitution is that both documents provide for
federal control of commerce between the states
The Articles of Confederation represented the
first attempt at self-government in the United States
The U.S. Constitution corrected a weakness of the Articles of Confederation by
giving the federal government the power to collect taxes
To address the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation, delegates at the Constitutional Convention agreed to
increase the powers of the central government
The flexibility of the original US Constitution is MAINLY due to
its provision for the amending process and judicial interpretation
Antifederalists criticized the United States Constitution primarily because governing power was concentrated in the
national government
The Bill of Rights was added to the US Constitution to
protect people's civil liberties
The MAIN criticism of the Articles of Confederation was that they failed to
provide adequate powers for the central government
"The United States shall guarantee to every state in this Union a republican form of government, and shall protect each of them against invasion; and on application of the legislature, or of the executive (when the legislature cannot be convened), against domestic violence." — United States Constitution, Article IV, Section IV According to this excerpt, a goal of the framers of the Constitution was to ensure that the US
provided for the common defense of every state
Passing marriage and divorce laws, creating vehicle and traffic regulations, and setting high school graduation requirements are examples of powers traditionally
reserved powers for the states
What was the primary reason for holding the Constitutional Convention of 1787?
revise the Articles of Confederation
The reserved powers clause in the Constitution reserves powers to the
states
"In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this, you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place, oblige it to control itself." This passage from the Federalist Papers refers to the need for a(n)
system of checks and balances
The US Constitution has survived for more than 200 years primarily because
the language of the Constitution allows for a variety of interpretations
A major weakness of government under the Articles of Confederation was that
the national government could not enforce its laws
"It is emphatically the province and duty of the judicial department to say what the law is. . ." --Marbury v. Madison, 1803 This statement expresses the Supreme Court's claim that
the power of judicial review belongs to the courts
Federalism refers to a political system in which a division of power exists between
the state government and national government
Federalism refers to a political system in which a division of power exists between
the state governments and national government
The writers of the US Constitution created a federalist government primarily
to divide power among levels of government
